Lost In A Book
by StarPatronus1995
Summary: It all started with a book. A book that claimed to be written by Merlin himslef. In a fluke accident, Draco and Hermione are transported back in time of the Arthurian legend and they must put aside their differences in order to break a curse and return to Hogwarts. Problem is, magic is banned in Camelot and if found guilty it is punishable by death. HGDM. Sixth Year, AU.
1. Prologue

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter and his world, I also don't own the Arthurian legend. I am simply burrowing them and moulding them to fit this plot. All rights reserved to J K Rowling. :)

Summary: It all started with a book. A book that claimed to be written by Merlin himself. In a fluke accident, Draco and Hermione are transported back in time and must put aside their differences and help Merlin break a curse in order to return back to Hogwarts. Problem is, magic is banned and if found guilty it is punishable by death. Set in Sixth Year, AU. T for safety.

A/N: Lord Voldemort has been defeated at the Ministry of Magic in Order of The Phoenix and Sirius Black is alive.

* * *

**Prologue**

**Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardy, England. Year: 993**

"Merlin, my good friend, can you not stay for the night? The students are most anxious to meet you." A rather round and plump woman inquired softly at the wizard before her. The wizard, pondered at her question for a moment, letting the words sink in and wash over him, before he shook his head from side to side much to the woman's disappointment.

"As much I would love to meet the students, dear Helga, but I am afraid I cannot stay. The King is getting rather impatient and I am late as it is. Maybe another day." Merlin merely smiled at her with the mischievous glint in his misty corn blue eyes.

"What shall we do with this parcel of yours?" A second woman raised an elegant brow in question at the leather bound book in her arms. Merlin's smile grew bigger at the mention of his parcel and this only made the others wonder what the great wizard is up to.

"All I ask of you is to take great care of it until the right time comes for it to be of use." Merlin bowed his head slightly before disappariting with a faint pop.

"That man, great as he is, he can sometimes make no sense." Helga Hufflepuff pursed her lips and stared at the others who simply looked at the book in Rowena Ravenclaw's hands. It was a simple leather bound book with golden corners and a lock. It was neither too thick nor too thin but it fitted nicely into one's cloak pocket. However, the Founder's knew that it was no ordinary book, for if it is, Merlin would not have bothered to travel all the way to the newly opened Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry to ask them to hide it for safe keeping. Merlin specifically said that it cannot be opened by anyone except for it's intended master that will come for the book when the right time comes.

But curiosity got the better of the Four Founders and they found themselves around a circular table with the book in the middle. Godric Gryffindor, who valued courage and bravery as the two most virtuous abilities a person could possess, reached out and unlocked the book. With held breath, he tentatively opened the book for he and the others expected something will happen as soon as he opened the book. They wouldn't put it past Merlin that he will charm the book to screech so loudly that it will claw on one's ears when opened, or something equally horrible.

Alas, nothing happened and with a sigh of disappointment that collectively gathered around the room, Godric began to read the words that was written on the front page of the book;

"_Beware! Beware!_

_Oh Godric's Daughter and Slytherin's Son._

_Thee must overcome the hatred you share,_

_Or thee shall never get the tasks done._

_Now heed these words and work together,_

_Or find yourselves stuck forever._

_The Cunning Serpent with a keen eye for potions,_

_The Courageous Otter with a clever brain._

_Together they will share emotions,_

_Together they will keep each other sane._

_I have tried, but alas, I have not succed,_

_The White Shadow is yet to be freed._

_The Priestess has cursed her, She cannot have an heir,_

_With her Lover, she has an affair._

_For future reference, consult my guide,_

_I shall be useful long after I have died._

_If it is not you I speak of and your eager eye lingers,_

_I must warn you now, watch out for your fingers."_

As soon as the last words left Godric Gryffindor's mouth, the book shut it self harshly on his fingers and with a yelp he dropped the book and the book simply flew out of the nearby window and towards the shadows of the night.

"How curious…"Salazar Slytherin, stroked his white beard and looked out into the night. The others agreed and the book was never seen again.

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**Author's Notes: ****Read and Review! Constructive comments are most welcome. I know my spelling, grammar and punctuation are not the best, but I shall try my best to make it as perfect as I can. I am only human guys, after all! Flames will not be accepted and will instead be use as my fuel to write more just to annoy the hell out of flamers! Teehee ^_^ xx**


	2. Chapter One

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter and his world, I also don't own the Arthurian legend. I am simply burrowing them and moulding them to fit this plot. All rights reserved to J K Rowling. :)

Summary: It all started with a book. A book that claimed to be written by Merlin himself. In a fluke accident, Draco and Hermione are transported back in time and must put aside their differences and help Merlin break a curse in order to return back to Hogwarts. Problem is, magic is banned and if found guilty it is punishable by death. Set in Sixth Year, AU. T for safety.

* * *

**Chapter One**

**Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, England. Year: 1996**

_Hermione_

Stupid Professor Binns.

Stupid Double History of Magic.

Stupid Dumbledore and his stupid ideas for House Unity.

And last but not the least, stupid Draco _freaking_ Malfoy.

"Malfoy! This is supposed to be a group research! Why are you not doing anything?" Hermione drew in a large breath, held it for a moment and let it hiss out ever so slowly. Normally it would work when she tries to calm herself down, but, alas, this time it did not work. How could it work when she was stuck in the library, with no one but Draco Malfoy as company?

Why did Professor Binns partnered her up with Malfoy?

"Why should I? We're going to get an O anyway." Draco drawled lazily as he ran his fingers through his white blond hair that was no longer slicked back. His hair was longer, Hermione noted, a blond mess that skimmed over the top of his silver eyes and framed his pointed face which in turn softened his features, gave him a boyish and charming look he definitely did not make up for in personality.

"If you think I am doing this project on my own, you have another thing coming!" Hermione huffed and waited for Draco to reply but the boy merely arched an eyebrow, his cold eyes silently challenging the brunette to say something that made her eyes fire up with anger, stuffed his hands into his robe pockets and placed his foot on the table.

"Ugh! You're an insufferable git, do you know that, Malfoy? Why can't Professor Binns partnered me up with someone who is relatively nice?"

"What, like dumb and dumber over there?" Draco jerked his head to the direction of her friends who was purposely placed a few tables away from them. Hermione scowled at him and she reluctantly followed Draco's gaze before she scoffed rather undignifiedly at what she saw and whipped her head towards the opposite direction. Draco's smirk had gotten wider when he realised what made Granger act the way she just did. A few tables from them was Weasley and the Brown girl almost eating each others' faces. Tch, how... tacky.

"No. Just anyone but you!" Hermione hissed.

"Like I chose to be you my partner." Draco retorted.

"At least you could try to do something. You're just sat there smirking like you own the place."

"You're no better."

"What? I've done more than you, you stupid bloody ferret."

"Wow, you wrote the_ title_. You've glared at the same page for the best part of the hour and mumbling to yourself like a mad witch. Oh, ten points to Gryffindor on the grounds of doing so much."

"I _hate_ you, Malfoy!" Hermione, having had enough at Malfoy's stupid smirking face, slammed her quill on the desk, rose from her chair and stomped her way across the library to collect more books.

"Feeling is mutual, Granger, mutual." Draco called out and earned another scowl from Hermione.

Hermione huffed in anger once more as she carelessly yanked books out of the shelves. Why did she have to work with Malfoy, the insufferable git? Why did Professor Binns thought it was wise to pair them up despite the protests he received from both parties when he called their names out? Sure she knew that the Professor partnered them up because they are both top of their class but, _why_ Malfoy?

_'He's been good this year, so far. He hasn't mercilessly taunted you or the boys, at all this year. It's as if he's keeping himself out of trouble.' _A little voice in the back of her head whispered and Hermione found herself nodding her head in agreement. Draco Malfoy, so far, had kept himself, or any of the Slytherins for that matter, out of trouble. Voldemort was dead and Lucius was in Azkaban with a life sentence which has resulted in the Malfoy name being almost burnt to the ground. It no longer held the same weight as it used to and almost became a laughing-stock of the Wizarding world. Draco was certainly suffering the consequences of his father's actions by not being as feared or respected like he used to be.

"He's keeping his head down." Hermione mumbled to no one. Not once had Draco had singled her out and picked on her. Normally, when given the chance, Draco would jump in and mercilessly taunt her for her inferior blood, bushy hair or just being a bit of a know-it-all. Hell, he'll create the chance himself, but she has yet to hear a comment about blood, hair or intelligence uttered from him.

When Hermione decided she had enough books to read and lift information from, she wobbled back to their desk as she balanced books that weighed nearly the same as she did in her arms. When she got to her desk, she let out an irritated huff for Draco _freaking_ Malfoy had decided to literally put his head down and slept. He had his arms crossed on the table with his head on it and his soft deep breathing told Hermione he had indeed fallen sleep, his hair sprawled out across the parchment and for the first time Hermione noted that his eyelashes were long and thick but was so pale and white they were almost transparent.

_Thud!_

"What was that for?!" Draco sprung out from his chair when Hermione purposely dropped the books right beside his head. Draco was naturally startled out of his nap and let out what almost sounded like a shriek as he quickly pulled himself up to his full height. His chair toppled over and everybody in the library had their eyes fixed on them curiously.

"It's not a time to take a nap, Malfoy. We have an hour and a half left and we haven't even started yet!" Hermione crossed her arms across her chest and tried to stare Draco down.

To her surprise, Draco picked the chair back up, ran his long pale hands through his hair and pulled out his quill. He reached out for the first book on the pile, opened it at a random page and began scrawling information down, each stroke of his hand both smooth and lazy at once. "Are you happy now, Granger?"

"No."

"Suit yourself."

A cloud of silence soon developed over their table and the only sound that came from their table was the occasional shuffle of a page turning and the rough scratching of Draco's quill on parchment. Hermione tried to concentrate on the book in her hand but she could not help but take sneaking glances at the boy in front of her. She couldn't help but watch as his blond hair fell into his eyes and with one hand he would occasionally sweep it away from his face. He would then softly tap the end of his quill on the book as his silver eyes scanned the page and bite his bottom lip as he wrote the information he found on his parchment in a casual manner -

_Stop it, Hermione._ Hermione shook her head profusely and forced herself to concentrate on the page. When she found nothing of value from the book, she blindly reached out for the next book on the pile but looked up when she felt the book put up a resistence. It turned out that Draco, too, had a hold on the book.

"Let go, Granger." Draco pulled the book towards him but Hermione did not let go.

"No. You let go, Malfoy." Hermione pulled with both hands but soon found that Draco had a tight grip on the book.

"I need this book."

"So do I."

"I had it first."

"You did not."

"I did too."

"I saw it first."

"Don't be stupid, Granger. Just give it to me."

"Don't be a prat, Malfoy. _I_ picked it out the shelves."

"Give. it. to. me."

"No!"

"Granger!"

"Malfoy!"

"Be quiet the pair of you. This is a library!" Madam Pince snarled at them with her hands on her hips. Everyone looked at them but Hermione and Draco both turned around and did what no one expected them to do.

"You stay out of this!" They both hissed in unison and Madam Pince squeaked in surprise when they glared at her before they returned to their tug of war but this time around it was silent and resorted to glaring each other down. Madam Pince stayed rooted to the ground, almost gaping like a fish clearly had not recovered from being shouted at. However a soft thud pulled her out of reverie and she looked down on the floor where the book Draco and Hermione were arguing about flew out of their hand and landed near Madam Pince's feet.

Draco and Hermione, for a moment, stared at each other, their chest heaved with shallow breaths before they looked at the book on the floor. At the same time they lunged for the book, with the intention of being the first one to get their fingers on the book. Everyone watched in anticipation to see who would claim the book first, Hermione shrieked as she tripped over her own chair and Draco grunted with displeasure when he too lost his balance and landed with a thud. For a moment it looked like Draco had the book but then Hermione landed on his back with her hand on the book too.

For Draco and Hermione, everything went slow and then... nothing.

* * *

Hermione groaned as a sudden bright light assaulted her eyes. Something underneath her, something warm and soft, moved and grunted what sounded almost like "Geroff me!". Hermione opened her eyes and looked around her new surrounding, but paid no attention to whatever was underneath her. She gasped when the first thing she saw was dark clouds and trees above her. There was a cold wind that echoed through the trees, taking the golden leaves as they blew past. There was a grey owl that perched on a branched and it looked as if it was staring at her with curious eyes that reminded Hermione of Dumbledore.

"Get. Off. Me. Granger." The soft warm thing underneath her grunted once more before Hermione found herself being pushed off. Hermione felt her whole face burn crimson when she realised the _soft warm thing_ she was sat on was none other than Draco Malfoy.

"Sorry." She mumbled but she only received a glare from Draco as he sat up and proceeded to brush dirt of his robe.

"Where are we?" Hermione inquired.

"A forest, Granger."

"I can see that, Malfoy. No need to point out the obvious, Sherlock." Hermione huffed irritatedly. Why the hell was she in a forest with Draco Malfoy who ruffled his hair when he finished brushing the dirt of his robes. Where the hell were they? The last thing she remembered was a sharp pain in her knees when she tripped over her chair before she landed on Draco's back. Draco naturally let out an "ohff" at the sudden weight on his back but Hermione ignored the fact that she was literally sprawled on top of Draco and proceeded to reach out and grab the book. As soon as her fingertips touch the leather cover of the book she felt a sudden surge of electricity through her fingertips followed by the feeling of being pulled through a very tight tube. And then nothing. Before she knew it she found herself on the leaf-covered ground of a forest sat on Draco Malfoy.

"What did you call me?" Draco arched an eyebrow at Hermione.

"Nevermind. We need to figure out where we are." Hermione sighed as pulled herself up to her full height. All of a sudden the cold wind picked up and Hermione wrapped her arms around herself to stop her body from shaking. Only her luck would see to it that she was stuck with Draco Malfoy in a forest with only her thin white shirt.

"We could be anywhere. This doesn't look like the Forbidden Forest." Draco stood up and looked around the forest.

"No it doesn't look like the Forbidden Forest at all. And it looks like it's about to rain too." Hermione mumbled, closing her eyes for a moment and pulled her arms tighter around herself. She rubbed her hands up and down her forearms when she suddenly felt a weight on her shoulder. She opened her eyes and saw Draco's robe on her shoulders.

"Wear it, Granger. Your shivering is doing my head in." Draco said dismissively when Hermione shot him a confused look. Hermione mumbled her thanks and shrugged herself into his robe. It was surprisingly warm and was far too long on her. The sleeves were a good few inches past her fingers and the hem of the robe pooled around her feet and dragged behind her. A faint blush tinted her cheeks once more and she realise that it smelled strongly of Draco. It smelled of an expensive woody yet sweet perfume, rain, a dusty smell that Hermione associates with Quidditch, a strong essence of apples and something that was strictly him that Hermione couldn't quite put a finger on.

"Whatever, Granger." Draco walked past Hermione and started to walk away from her when he suddenly became rooted the ground.

"Wha-"

"Shh. Something is coming towards us." Draco pressed a finger on her lips and strained his hearing towards the sound. Hermione couldn't hear what Draco was on about, all she could hear was the wind rustling through the trees.

"My wand, Granger. Right pocket." Draco looked at his robe's right pocket. Hermione stuffed her hands in the pocket and rummaged through.

"It's not there." Hermione mumbled as she pulled out from his robe's right pocket a spare quill, a folded piece of parchment and a golden key.

"What? Are you sure?" Draco questioned, a slight panic flashed through his silver eyes as he proceeded to pat down his own trouser pockets. Hermione searched his robe's left pocket but only found a piece of string, a white handkerchief with 'DM' embroidered on one of the corners, five sickles, two galleons and empty sweet wrappers.

"No. It's definitely not there." Hermione informed and Draco let out a frustrated sigh. Wait a minute, if Draco hasn't got his wand then where is hers? Hermione let out a squeak of panic and patted her own pockets down.

"Where the hell are our wands!" She exclaimed. What the hell were they going to do without their wands. She looked at Draco for an answer but he gave her a look that said "Shut up" before he stepped right in front of her in a slightly defensive stance and stretched his arm out to stop her from stepping forwards. Hermione could hear the whinning of horses and the voices of men.

"What are you doing here in the middle of the forest young Malfoy?" A man's voice rang out and Hermione peeked around Draco's body and saw that there was a group of a dozen men on horseback. They wore blood red cloaks, silver chain mails and each had a sword.

"Where the hell are we, Draco?" Hermione whispered.

"And why is the King's ward with you?" Another voice called out. The men murmured amongst themselves when they noticed Hermione. They all bowed at her elaborately and dismounted the horses.

"The old physican got you collecting herbs again, has he?" One of the men said in a friendly tone.

"Yes, he has. I'm looking for... mushrooms." Draco answered tentatively and his silver eyes narrowed with suspicion as the men sniggered

"That still doesn't explain why Lady Hermione is with you, boy."

"I'm helping him." Hermione stepped forward and said in a clear voice.

"Well, I hope that was all you helped him out with, m'lady. The King would not be happy if his ward started to see the Court Physican's young apprentice."

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A/N Read and Review! Sorry for the very late update. I got caught up with college work. I shall update as soon as I can xx


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